A Woman in a Ball Gown, Shooting Some Aliens
by PixieKindOfCrazy
Summary: "Just then, a woman with wildly curly hair stumbled in, wearing a ball gown and shooting what looked to be a laser gun at whatever was outside the TARDIS door." The new companion meets River...sort of. Rated T for one River inuuendo.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. It's all very sad.

A Woman in a Ball Gown, Shooting Some Aliens

Emmaline was on the opposite side of the console than the Doctor, looking through old TARDIS database records while the Doctor fiddled mindlessly with the controls, or that's how it looked to her. He seemed to be thinking about something, she assumed from the wrinkle between his eyebrows. It looked like he was trying to get something on the console to work. Emmaline was patiently scrolling through the TARDIS files, trying to find a game or something amusing. She remembered 10 minutes ago that during one of their run-away-from-an-angry-mob type adventures, the doctor had mentioned that he'd programmed some fun games or 'that internet thing you humans love', as he called it, onto the old girl's files. She stared at the screen with china blue eyes, half focusing on finding something amusing to do and half trying to figure out just what the hell the alien across from her was trying to do. He held an old finger dial phone in his hands, the kind she'd seen in history books about the 21st century. In her time, 23rd century, they had holographic phones. This thing seemed ancient, and it creaked when the doctor aimed his sonic screwdriver at it. She tried to repress her smirk and utterly failed.

"Doctor, what _are_ you doing?" she asked with the kind of sarcastic curiosity that reminded him of Donna.

He looked up at her, apparently put out that she'd interrupted his fiddling, "I'm trying to make this long distance. My other phone seems to not be working."

Her eyebrows shot up, "Alright, I know I haven't been on this 'adventure' for very long," she laughed, "But why would _you_ need a telephone? If you need to get an urgent message to someone, can't you just arrive at their house?"

He pushed his eyebrows together in that angry way of his and snapped, "Yes," at her, "But I'll have you know Emmaline Rossdale, that urgent messages aren't not the only kind of communication I have. I have friends ya know?" he sounded a bit like a wounded child, but she didn't point that out.

Of course she knew that he'd met hundreds of people, from aliens to robots to really scary I-don't-quite-know-WHAT-you-are kind of people, but from her time with him, she surmised that the only ones he actually talked to regularly were the companions, "Friends like...call on the phone just to chat type friends?" she raised both eyebrows, "Sorry, but that seems all too domestic for you."

He shifted uncomfortably, "Well, yes, generally, domestic isn't on my itinerary. But having people in the universe that care about you and that tend to hit you with cricket bats when you don't keep in touch..." he spluttered a bit, realizing he'd gotten off on an unintended tangent...but what tangents _are _intended?, "...isn't a bad thing," he finished somewhat awkwardly.

"Well, of course not. I just didn't realize it was a _Doctor _thing."

"It can be," he looked at the ground for a moment then looked back up at her and grinned. He turned and flopped down on the chair behind him, his silly hair falling in his eyes. He blew out of the corner of his mouth to get it out of his face, before he started tinkering with the phone again, "So there. Now you know. I've got friends," he smiled at her and she couldn't resist grinning back. It's not that she was in love with the man or anything. Actually, she'd been the one who kind of ordered him to take her to see the universe. She'd made it clear to him that it was for the sole purpose that it amazed her and she wanted to see it. So many of his companions had become obsessed with him. And that's the reason he always left them-because he didn't want to steal their lives from them anymore. But with Emmaline, with her mischevious eyes like Amy and her playful put downs like Donna, the Doctor knew that it'd be okay to take her-because he could sense that she hadn't fallen for him and she never would. She was a girl that knew the Earth was too small for her and he was a man that loved to show his friends the stars. So naturally it just started working out like this. They go places and laugh then run back into the TARDIS, stumbling up the stairs and dropping themselves down on the couch chairs, talking for about an hour about themselves and random things and sometimes his friends and past adventures, then she'd run off to her room to sleep or do 'human girl things', as he often puts it, and he'd tinker with the TARDIS until the old girl got irritated with him for 'fixing when nothing is wrong'. But there was an underlying feeling there between both of them, very subtle but cleary there. They loved each other. Not in a romantic way at all, but more in a 'you're like a weird cousin who's very strange, but I still care about you' kind of way. Neither of them liked being mushy, but they'd both defend the other against cruel and often dim-witted aliens. They were a lot alike in that way-brave, sometimes foolishly adventurous and curious, stubborn, and had a very sarcastic yet friendly sense of humor with each other. But what the Doctor didn't know is that her sense of adventure and want for _more_ is not the only reason Emmaline came with him. She also saw something in him- something lonely and dark and sad-that made her want to help him. She somehow sensed that it would not be good to let him wander alone. He needed someone. And that man had an odd way of making you care about him. A lot of the other companions cared about him in a way that included them being attracted to him. Emmaline didn't see it that way. When she first looked at him, really looked at him, not glanced, she knew that she wanted to be there for him whenever he needed it. She saw a lost, albeit brilliant, soul that shouldn't be alone, that needed a balance. She also felt a strange connection to him, like he reminded her of him, a kindred spirit. And her mother always told her, "If you see someone lonely, make sure they never have to be again." And so she did, she ran off with this man, like a brother-best friend to her. She ran and they fought aliens and laughed and she would often feel very proud of his brilliance and heart and he'd often grin at her to tell her he was proud too. She was just the right mix of soft kind hearted woman and brash fast-running kid. She balanced him and she wanted him to always have a balance, even after she left, because she knew logically that she'd have to move on someday, but she didn't like to think about it.

"Yes, Doc, I know you've got friends," she sat down on what she'd come to think of as her couch chair and he noted in his head how she sounded like Jack when she called him 'Doc' with her American accent, "You know that's not what I meant."

He laughed and responded to her banter without looking up from the doo-hickey in his hands, "Oh do I, Emma?"

She rolled her eyes at his tone of voice that reminded her of her 6 year old cousing and stretched out across the chair, "Yes, I hate to say it, but you are pretty smart...in your way, so I think you know what I meant."

He smiled quietly and looked up from his tinkering, "Go to bed, Emma," he ordered, sounding disturbingly like her father.

She scoffed, "It's not even late...and don't give me that 'It's a time machine, I could make it late' excuse, besides we just got back from that planet with the squirrely people-"

"Meza Dorp," he interjected.

"-like 20 minutes ago," she ignored his correction, "I normally stay in her and annoy you for at least another 30 minutes," she smirked.

The TARDIS made a humming sound that he'd explained to Emma meant she was laughing. The TARDIS liked her; she wasn't obsessed with him, but she still cared.

He sat up in his seat some, "Fine, annoy away, Ms. Rossdale."

She made a mock-thoughtful face, "Nah, I think I'll just go back to finding that internet you said you programmed for me..." she gave him a 'you're such a liar' look and hopped up to walk back to the screen above the console.

He seemed to have finished fixing the phone and got up and put it back on the console, "There, now she won't kill me when I miss her calls."

"Who?" Emma wondered casually while focusing the game of angry birds she'd managed to pull up.

"Scottish red-head that likes to yell at me for things that _aren't_ my fault...well I suppose her therapy sessions were my fault. But the biting the therapists thing was all on her."

She just laughed at his ridiculous explanation, "Oh, I see what kind of friends you have now. Ones that are equally as batty as you."

"Some would say she's more batty than m-"

Before he could finish his retort, a blasting sound came from the door, causing them both to whip their heads around in surprise. A woman with wildly curl hair and a laser gun tumbled, somehow gracefully, through the door and continued to shoot at whoever had been chasing her outside. She was looked to be dressed for some kind of gala, with a long midnight blue gown criss-crossing at her back and flowing down into a shimmery puddle at her feet. Her hair had one diamond pin hanging out of it, probably had started falling out when she'd started running way from the Sontarans.

"Batty? Do you mean me or my mother?" she yelled absent-mindedly, then sighed in relief as the door closed, and leaned down, picking up the skirt of her dress and fastening the gun to a holster on her thigh.

"Your mother, Dear."

Emmaline eyes widened comically at his use of such a domestic pet name, or any pet name for that matter.

The woman stood upright and grinned a radiant smile at the Doctor and Emma noticed that her eyes had lit up like the man she was looking at was a giant Christmas present. She walked toward them in a way that was elegant, but also sexy. Emmaline looked toward the Doctor to gage whether she should kick this woman out or not, expecting to see him alarmed at this intrusion. To the human girl's shock, he looked perfectly at ease with this situation, like it'd happened hundreds of times. He had an amused little smirk on his face.

Emmaline gaped when the woman placed a kiss on the Doctor's cheek, and her jaw dropped when the Doctor automatically placed his hand on her back when she did it. This was all too weird.

"Hello Sweetie, I just need to use our shower real quick-Stormcage showers are dreadful, what with being handcuffed and all- then I'll be off to see a man about thing, which I may or may not have shot," she ended with a wicked smirk, turning to walk down the corridor.

The Doctor sighed and rolled his eyes, in an equally amused and exasperated kind of familiarity, "Fine. Just leave some hot water for me this time, River."

A shout of "I told you last time that you could come in with me, Sweetie!" and a sensual laugh were heard from her retreating figure.

His cheeks reddened and he tried to ignore it, "The old girl moved our bathroom to the right side of the bedroom by the way!" he called after her.

Then he shook his head and laughed fondly as he turned around. When he saw Emma's 'explain now, Doofus' expression, he seemed to suddenly remember that he had a companion on board.

"Who _is _that?" she stressed the words, trying to get across that this was confusing her beyond belief. _Am I the only one that finds a random ball gown-wearing woman coming in here and shooting people to be odd?_

The Doctor walked back to the console and rolled his eyes, pointing in the direction where the woman had left, "_That_ is a long story."

"Doctor...who is she?" she had to restrain the threatening tone in her voice.

He sighed resignedly, knowing he couldn't avoid this, "My wife. Now where to?"

The look on Emmaline's face was making it hard for him to not bust out laughing.

**A/N: **By the way, would you guys want me to write a one shot saying how the Doctor met Emmaline? It just seems like it'd be fun to explore.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/n: **Sorry for this, but this isn't another chapter. I thought about it and I decided you guys were right, Emmaline's back story would be interesting. So I decided to make the story of how she meets the Doctor a multi-chapter fic. Bare with me though because my plot tends to wander and if it's going to be any good each chapter may take a little while with editing. But I'm already working on the first one. So would you guys read it?


	3. Chapter 3

**ranA/n**: Ok, so since some of you guys wanted me to do a continuation of the _Woman in a Ball Gown, Shooting Some Aliens _one shot-and I really love writing awkward fluff- I decided, 'What the heck?'. And voila-this one shot….maybe two shot…_thing_ was born. Enjoy. I never finished what I wanted to write for this chapter though...So I decided to just give it to you.

**Disclaime**r: I own nothing except Emmaline and my teddy bear, Gobby, who has a really weird name. #Don'tjudegeme

Doctor's POV

"Your WHAT?"

Ok so maybe blurting that little piece of information out randomly wasn't the best thing to do.

I stared at Emma from the console, contemplating what to do about this….situation. Actually, I just really don't know what to do here. Ha, I kind of like that. I've never been in this kind of predicament before. I mean, I don't really know how to describe very accurately just what River and I are. The only time someone had asked me who River was before, the best description I could come up with was "Hell in high heels".

Oh Lord of Fez, Emma's still staring at me, waiting for an explanation.

"Um…," I cleared my throat, "Wife, yeah, that's what she is. Errrrr…that's River."

Smooth, Doctor. That was just brilliant of me.

Emma's eyebrows shot up so high that one of them disappeared under her dark brown bangs, "No, no, I heard you, Doc," she laughed, a bit hysterically, "It's just that I just now accepted the idea that you have regular type friends…and now you drop it on me that you're MARRIED?"

I scratched my cheek uncomfortably, "Well….I honestly don't really know how to properly tell people what River and I….ARE."

She chuckled once, somehow looking incredulous and amused at the same time, "Try, Doctor, because I'd really like to understand this. I mean, does she live here on the TARDIS with you? How long have you been married? And could you not have TOLD me so I wouldn't be so blind-sided by this? Geez, I feel freakin' stupid here."

I felt my expression pinch as I started to get irritated. I understood why Emma wanted to come with me when she asked-because she's like me and one planet was just not enough for her. And I care about Emma. I do. She's a great friend to me, like Amy or Donna. But still, she signed up for this, I did not drag her with me. I warned her. I told her she wouldn't like parts of me. She still came. So she has no right to be angry about this- I made HER look stupid? I feel like a bloody idiot around River half the time and Emma sees her once and just demands that I explain our whole dynamic…How does she expect me to do that when I hardly understand? She needs to get that there are certain things I just can't let myself share with everyone. I don't know why, I just can't.

"Excuse me, Emma. You might have forgotten, but I _warned_ you when you demanded to come with me that there would be things in my life that you wouldn't understand! …And that I just wouldn't tell you. River happens to be one of those things. I didn't tell you because I….I hardly understand MYSELFwhen I'm around her, and thinking about it gives me a headache and many other feelings I can't quite decipher and I would appreciate it if you tried to grasp that maybe you shouldn't push me."

I didn't realize how harsh my tone was or how much I was glaring at Emma until I saw the taken aback expression on her face and the slightly hurt light in her eyes. I don't know why, but I always understand what Emma means if I just look at her eyes; perhaps it's because she thinks like I do.

She walked up the stairs to me and opened her mouth to speak, trying to hide the hesitance in her countenance, she looked up at me with clear eyes. "I'm sorry, Doc," she smiled shyly; that's the first timid expression I've ever seen on her face.

She punched my shoulder lightly, "Look, I'm pushy and curious and I tend to want to understand things more than I have a right to. And I really am sorry that I didn't take into account the fact that you're not just my time-and-space-adventurer-buddy. You're not just that very brilliant and very dorky guy that takes me to faraway places. I've seen you save planets, civilazations, but I guess I was just dense. Because I didn't realize it until now, but…you're not just my friend. You're a man that has more on his mind than what flavor custard to dip your fish fingers in. Sometimes I forget that you're an adult," she gave me her signature lop-sided smile, "That you're more than that, you're….I don't know. More ….Doc, you don't mind me asking, but…you're also River's, aren't you?"

Emma's POV

"River's what?" his eyebrows pinched together in that way that I've learned means he's confused and isn't happy about it.

I smiled gently, trying to be easy about this, "River's everything."

I could see it now-from the way he looked at her when she came in to the way he's talking about her now… He belongs to her.

That badass curly-headed blond that busted through the doors owns him, in a way. And he, her.


End file.
